Catching Up
by LillyOfTheValley
Summary: ONE SHOT. Nothing seems to be going right for Hermione, but things can happen to change it all.


Author's Note: This is just another little ONE SHOT I thought up when I was bored out of my mind during a project that was going nowhere. I just want to let everyone know that I won't be taking on any more epic length fics like Let the Music Heal Your Soul. It'll be mostly one chapters with a few short multi-chapter fics thrown in every now and then. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters.

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Nothing was going her way. She had forgotten about a project at work and neglected to finish it so her boss was furious, the cat had been missing for five days now, and the man she was in love with had spent his lunch break snogging Cho Chang at a café in London. It wasn't that he was cheating, he wasn't the type to cheat. The biggest problem was that she wasn't with him in the first place. Harry Potter had no idea how Hermione Granger felt about him, and that was a great deal of the reason that she spent her night sobbing in front of the fire.

After hours of staring at dancing flames her eyes were stinging and her throat was aching. Then she heard his voice.

"Hey Hermione, the door was unlocked so I just came in. I was wondering if you… Hermione, what's wrong?"

Her biggest problem came in to the room and sat down beside her, green eyes filled with concern watching her.

She hurried to wipe her eyes. "It's nothing, I've just screwed up at work, and I haven't seen Crookshanks in nearly a week. It's just getting to me, that's all."

He regarded her contemplatively. "That's not all that's bothering you. I've known you for thirteen years Mione, I can tell when you're not telling me everything."

She sighed and shook her head. "I'm just… just sick and tired of the man I'm in love with not wanting me."

Harry reached over and brushed a stray curl out of her face. "Who's the idiot that doesn't want to be with you?"

When she raised her eyes to his again they were filled with fresh tears. "You're the idiot Harry."

He pulled back as if he'd been burned and the look of shock on his face made the tears come faster. "How long?" he asked quietly.

She shrugged. "About six years, give or take a few months."

He reached out to touch her cheek gently. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You're my best friend, and then there was Ron, and there always seemed to be someone else; now Cho…"

"What do you mean 'now Cho?'" he asked.

She shook her head. " I know you two are together, I saw you today. Besides it's not like I have any reason to…"

"Hermione, Cho kissed me, and after she did I told her very certainly that I'm not interested."

Rather than making her feel better, that news only made her feel like a bigger idiot. "Oh."

Harry pulled back from her and stared into the fire for a long stretch of time.

"I'm sorry Hermione, but I need to think. I'll, I'll see you tomorrow."

She didn't even have time to nod before he was out of the room. When she heard the front door click shut she lay down and cried herself to sleep.

The next morning she woke up with her head pounding. Resigned suddenly to her fate as a lonely mediwitch, she downed a migraine potion, took a shower, and headed to work. Most of the day passed without incident. She tended to her patients, filled out some paperwork, and went to lunch with Ginny like she did every day. But a few hours before the end of her shift she turned a corner and came face to face with Harry.

"Harry, what are you doing here? You should be at work," she said disapprovingly, trying her best to pretend she hadn't confessed her undying love for him the night before.

"I need to talk to you," he said quietly.

"Well my shift is over in three hours, we can talk then."

"Nope, we're going to talk now." He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the nearest vacant room, throwing a locking spell at the door.

"Harry, what…" She shut her mouth rather quickly when she saw the almost feral look in his eyes. He backed her up against the wall and caged her in with an arm on either side of her body. "Harry."

He shook his head before bending down and pressing a kiss to her lips. When he pulled away, Hermione looked up at him with tears shining in her eyes.

"I was up all night thinking about you, about this. Six years, I wasted six years," he said. He reached up to cup her cheek and she covered his hand with hers. "I really am an idiot."

She nodded and smiled up at him. "Yeah you are. So what now?" She asked.

He bent to kiss her long and lazily. "I'd say we've got loads of catching up to do."


End file.
